Yeah, that's right. I bought some art for chez Creeper. In case you didn't know, I got class out the ass.

You may have seen it before, here and there on the internet. Two pieces from Lucy Owen's Paper men project which were displayed at her "Where The Juggalo Roam" exhibit at Start Gallery in Detroit in 2014.

There I was, a mild mannered guy, attending the 15th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos, still standing in the pit as Insane Clown Posse ended their set on Saturday night, when all of a sudden I felt a hand on my shoulder and realized that one of those scary, gang-banging Juggalos wanted me to turn around.

Well, I guess it wasn't entirely out of the blue, since a few hours earlier, that same "terrifying" Juggalo had warned me that this was going to happen. He had grabbed me as I was walking through the festival grounds and told me that he was going to be looking for me at the end of ICP's show. I figured there wasn't much chance that he would actually find me in all of the chaos, but I had forgotten that I was wearing a bright yellow Tyvek suit, and carrying two cameras, which made me pretty noticeable.

So, I spun around in response to the hand on my shoulder, and saw that there were 3 or 4 Juggalos surrounding me. Over the next minute, things happened pretty fast. It started with him grabbing a Juggalette and pulling her in front of me, shouting something to her that I couldn't hear over the roar of the crowd.

Then he pulled something from his pocket and got down on one knee....

So, this year's Gathering had both a wedding and at least one proposal.

Do you remember last year's GOTJ? Cave-In-Rock, Illinois? Hogrock Campground? Does any of that sound familiar?

Even though we're not be going back to the same location this year, we'll always have fond memories of the Gathering on the Ohio River. But maybe it wasn't the best place after all. Did you know that Cave-In-Rock got it's start over 200 years ago as a hideout for "fugitive criminals on the run from civilized society?" I mean, hell, Juggalos don't want to accidentally get a bad reputation from hanging out in a place with that kind of history.

Day 2

But... it was fun. Maybe you can't remember everything that happened. Or, God forbid, maybe you didn't get to go last year. Well, brother, I got you covered. Better late than never, hunh?

The Gathering of the Juggalos is the greatest place on Earth

I went to my first Gathering in 2011, and I was hooked. I had been intending to go for years, but I have to admit that I was a little afraid of stepping into the middle of 10,000 strangers who seemed to come from an entirely other world. I regret not making the effort to go sooner, because I find the culture and the people absolutely fascinating, and have seen passionate self-expression that makes the regular world seem bland and lifeless by compassion.

Juggalos are sort of like American gypsies, hated and ostracized by the general public, but proud and united in their exclusion. Now they are even being profiled as a gang by the FBI, and in some cases, persecuted by law enforcement simply for displaying Juggalo related tattoos.

Nonetheless, it's a gang that I don't mind hanging out with from time to time. Even though I am often treated warily, being an obvious outsider, I have really encountered nothing but kindness and constant exhibition of joy at being alive, which is something that I find distinctly lacking in "the mainstream."

This year, I had the honor of getting press credentials for the Gathering via the good folks over at Doobious.org, so please head on over there to take a gander at the more detailed description of my last time among the Juggalos.